The Indian Railways has been permitted to repair, strengthen, rehabilitate, or reconstruct 9,784 railway bridges across the country.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw made this announcement in a written reply to questions from nine MPs in the Lok Sabha. The question was about old railway bridges in Maharashtra, their current condition, and the repair work done in the last three years.
The MPs expressed concern over the deaths and injuries caused by railway bridges in the last three years. They also found out the measures taken by the government to repair all old railway bridges across the country.
Vaishnav said the Indian Railways has a well-established system wherein comprehensive inspection of railway bridges is carried out, once before monsoon and once after monsoon. Some bridges are additionally inspected more frequently depending on their condition.
He emphasized that railway bridge rehabilitation, strengthening, repair, and rebuilding are continuous processes that are determined by the physical state of the bridges rather than their age.
He said the details of railway bridges are zone-wise and not state-wise. Railway zones in Maharashtra include Central Railway, South Central Railway, South East Central Railway, South Western Railway, and Western Railway.
Business Standard also gave details of repair works carried out in Indian Railways in the last three years, which showed 5,405 railway bridges were repaired, rehabilitated, strengthened, or reconstructed, including 1,323 bridges of the above-mentioned five zonal railways.
As of April 1, 2024, the Indian Railways has approved 9,784 railway bridges for repair, strengthening, rehabilitation or reconstruction.
The minister informed that no railway bridge has collapsed in Maharashtra in the last three years, and all railway bridges are safe to run trains at adequate speed.
